In an earlier post on the official Surface blog, Microsoft gave some more information about how it came up with the Touch and Type covers for its Surface hardware family; the team was helped by people who worked in Microsoft's Applied Sciences division.

In a new post on the Surface blog, Microsoft gives some more detail about how the Applied Sciences team helped the Surface team to make the 3mm thick Touch Cover. The scientists on the team helped to fashion the Touch Cover so that it can tell the difference between a user pushing a button on the keyboard compared to that user just resting their hands on the cover.

The blog also talks about how the Applied Sciences team helped to cut down on the reflections on the Surface touchscreen. We have all encountered times when we are working on a tablet or notebook when the reflections interfere with seeing or using a screen. The blog states:

Solving this issue meant having the fewest layers of glass possible (the team knew that more layers meant more reflections). The solution they developed to eliminate these reflections was ultimately to fuse all the optical layers together (touch sensor, protective glass, and other layers) so that the layers became the same density and matched each other’s index of refraction as close as possible. The end result was reduced glare, reflections, and even making the display stronger and more resilient.

It should be interesting to see what the Applied Sciences team will help with for the next generation of Surface devices, which are almost certainly in the works at Microsoft.